STORIES

Rock climbing is my favorite single-day Adventure Club trip! It's one of
our few indoor trips, but the levels of adventure, excitement, and new
opportunities are still pretty high. Metro Rock in Everett, MA has been
our gracious host for many years, and their ever-changing challenges never
disappoint.

This year, we took more students than we typically do, and as a result, we
changed the way we use the space at Metro Rock. We divided into two large
groups. One group practiced top-rope climbing in small groups with 3
students to each teacher chaperone, while the other group divided into two
smaller groups to practice climbing using auto-belays, bouldering, and
attempting to cross the slack-line challenge.

Top Rope Climbing
This is the most common way we use the walls and gym space at Metro Rock.
In this activity, one student wears a harness and a teacher uses a
combination of safety knots to tie climbing rope to the harness. This
rope goes up and over a pulley, and the opposite end is fed through a
belay device that clips securely to the teacher's harness. The belay
device feeds rope into and out of a clip. Held in one position, a teacher
can carefully feed rope through as a climber ascends or descends. Held in
another position, a teacher can "brake" the rope so that the climber
doesn't move up or down.

Students took turns climbing walls in varying degrees of difficulty. The
walls are covered with holds that are arranged in courses by Metro Rock
staff. Climbers use their hands and feet to maneuver up, down, and across
the walls. Some students were proud to make it just a few feet off the
ground, and their groups celebrated trying new things and conquering
fears! Other students mastered the practice walls and were ready to move
up to more challenging courses. Regardless of their height off the
ground, all students made us proud with their gravity-defying efforts!

Auto-Belay
Metro Rock has a few auto-belay courses set up around the gym. This
devices allow climbers to use the walls without a second person belaying
for them on the ground. Instead of a pulley, the climbing rope feeds into
an automatic coiling system. As climbers move up the walls, the system
pulls in and contains the rope. If the climber falls or lets go of the
wall, their increased weight on the line signals to the auto-belay device
to slowly let the rope back out. The climber gently descends to the
ground to try again or trade off with another climber. Our students loved
using these devices, because it enabled more climbers at a time. Metro
Rock smartly arranges a few devices together in the practice area so that
one person can easily supervise multiple climbers.

Bouldering
Bouldering is a different type of climbing that doesn't use ropes or
harnesses at all. Climbers maneuver courses that are lower in height off
the ground and often have more side-to-side motions. Courses for
bouldering always have "crash pads," which are thick foamy mats, beneath
them in case a climber falls. This type of climbing can be very difficult
for many climbers because it shifts your center of gravity in strange new
ways. Nevertheless, Banneker Adventurers are always happy to give this
new activity a try, and some find a skill they never knew they had!

Slack Line
Stretched tightly between two poles at the back of the gym is Metro Rock's
slack line. This nylon line, which is about 3 inches wide and suspended
about 18 inches above a crash pad, gives users an opportunity to practice
balance and careful foot placement. Beginners can use a sliding rope to
provide support as they attempt to cross from one pole to another. Our
students enjoy trying this activity in small groups because they can learn
techniques from observing one another, or offer support and strategies to
someone as they attempt to cross the slack line.

As always, I left this trip feeling proud of our students for their daring
and fearless attitudes when faced with new challenges. I can't wait for
next year!